Container fabricating machine



June 29, 1937. H. Tjsco'rT CONTAINER FABRICATI NG MACHINE Filed Oct. 16,1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 l N @3 in June 29, 1931.

H. T. scoTT 2,085,477

CONTAINER FABRICATING MACHINE Filed Oct. 16, 1934 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 7Sheeiis-Sheet 5 Filed 001;. 16, 1934 June 29, 1937. H. T. SCOTT 72,085,477

CONTAINER FABRICATING MACHINE Filed Oct. 16, 1934 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 June29, 1937. .T. SCOTT CONTAINER FIABRICATING MACHINE '7 Sheets-Sheet 6Filed 0ct. 16, 1954 June 29,1937. H. T. SCOTT- 2,os5,477

CONTAINER FABRICATILNG MACHINE Filed Oct. 16, 1934 1 Sheets-SheetPatented June 29, 1937 Henry '1. Scott, Toledo, Ohio,

American Paper Bottle Company, Toledo, a corporation of Ohio assignor toThe Ohio,

Application October 1c, 1934, Serial No. 748,565

13 Claims. (01. 93-1) The present invention relates to machines forfilling, closing and sealing'paper containers. It relates particularlyto machines for receiving partially completed paper containers, that is,tu-' bular containers the bottoms of which have been closed and whichhave been coated both interiorly and exteriorly with a leak proofingsubstance, for mstance,- paraflln, and filling, closing and sealing thesame In my copending application, Serial 603,861, filed April '7, 1932,of which the present application is a continuation-in-part,

is disclosed an apparatus by means of which 001- lapsed blanks may bedetached singly from a pack of such blanks in rapid succession, eachblank thus detached being first opened and ren tdered tubular in crosssection, the bottom flaps secured together byyan adhesive and the tubewith bottom closed'being then immersed in parafl'in so that a liquidproof coating is established over both its interior surface and itsexterior surface. After the paraffin has hardened each such partiallycompleted container is ready for filling, closing and sealing and it isthe function of the present invention to autbmatically perform these- 25operations in'a rapid and eflici' nt manner and to deliver the chargedand sealed containers to a platform from which they may be readilyremoved and packed or otherwise. disposed of. The partially completedcontainers are delivered singly aotothe charging, closing and sealingmechanism but in rapid succession and it is essential that they becharged, closed, sealed and delivered with equal rapidity in order thatthe process'of con- -tainer manufacture may proceed uninterrupt 35 edlyfrom start to finish. A container of, the

type which the marily designe in my copending application, Serial686,300, flied august 22, msebut it will be understood that; 4Q withminor changes in designand arrangement of its component elements thepresent invention may be adapted to handle containerswhich di'flerwidely in form and shape.

Containers constructed in they may be designed so as to. have halfpintcapacities, pint capacities, or quart capacities. halt pint containerdiffers fromthe quart 50 con tainer only in length, its cross sectionalshape,

be torn construction, and top construction being the same as that of thelarger container. Not only is the means for closing the designed as'tobe able to perform its functions 5.3 regardless of the container length,but also the present machine has been prito handle is describedandclaimed accordance with the. 45 teachings of the application justabove referred to may have difierent capacities, for instance,

bottom so means for filling, closing and sealing the containers are sodesigned that they may perform their functions" regardless of thecapacities of the containers which are presented to them, provided ofcourse that these containersare presented in proper relationship totheseveral devices as they pass through the mechanism.

The present invention therefore contemplates a machine having thecapacity to fill, close, and seal containers of difierent capacities andvarying lengths without substantial change to any of its operatingparts, it being only necessary to eflect a simple adjustment to changethe machine ifrom one adapted to act upon halt pint containers-"to oneadapted to act upon pint or quart containers; By means of one machine,therefore, the entire output of a dairy, for instance, may be properlyallocated to pint, halt pint and quart containers made "not realized inth c case of machines designed for such purposes. I

' The embodiment of the invention selected for disclosure by way ofexample is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, I

1 is a side elevation of the machine, rather diagrammatic in character,as many parts havebeenomittedr Figure 2 is a diagrammatic Figure 3 isFigure 4 is a section online 4-4 of Figure 3; Figure 51s a side,elevation'of portion of the 1 machine, partially broken away to showinterior fconstructi' L 1 Figure 6 is a seczion on line of Figure 3;li-igure'l 'isasecion-on Figureilisasectionon Figure 9" is a planview ofportion of the machine, at the delivery end thereof;

' Figure 10 is a. section on line lO-ll of F13 met); a. v

Figure 11 is an and elevation of portion of the mechanism at thedischarge end ofthe fmachine, partially broken away; and

a plan view of portion of the mech- Figures 12 and 13 are twoviews orone of the ries of such containers are -indicated'by the of paper, .aresult heretofore Y plan'view of the V line 1-.-| of Figure 3; line 8-8of Figure 9;

letters C in Figures 1 and 2 and each container in theseries movesprogressively from right to left. As it is received upon the machine atthe right hand end it comprises a tube having its bottom end closed andits top open, a container in this partially completed condition being11- lustrated in' greater detail in my copending application, Serial686,300, filed August 22, '1933.

- In this progressive movement from right to left,

the container is first placed upon and firmly gripped by a conveyor, theflexible element of which is indicated at In in Figures 1 and 2. Theconveyor element or chain III is given a. step by step movement and eachcontainer secured thereon is'first presented to a mechanismdiagrammatically indicated at H for partially folding itscollapsibleupper end portion. A machine for and method of partiallyfolding the collapsible upper ends of the containers is fully disclosedin my copending application, Serial 748,561, filed October 16, 1934, andfor that reason will notbe herein described in detail.

After the upper end of the container is partiall. folded it is nextmoved beneath the discharge spout of a filling mechanism,diagrammatically indicated at I! and by nieans of which a liquid orsolid substance to be dispensed is inserted. A filling mechanismprimarily intended for use in connection with the present machine isfully disclosed in. copending application,

Serial 574,296, filed November 11, 1931. The

charged containers are next presented to a top closing mechanismdiagrammatically indicated at I 3, which is preferably of the typedisclosed in my copending application, Serial 748,566, filed October 16,1934, and the details of which need not be here described. Next theupper end of the charged and closed container is presentedto amechanism, diagrammatically indicated at II by means of which amechanical securing device, such as a staple may be inserted. A suitablestapling means is disclosed in my copending applica-. tion, Serial748,564, filed October 16, 1934.

After the stapling operation has been performed, the container ispresented to afinal sealing mechanism, diagrammatically indicated at.ll, by means of-which a final sealing pressure is applied.- A.preferred type of seali g mechanism .is fully disclosed in my oopendirrapplication, Serial 741,330, filed August 24, 1934. Finally,

the' charged, closed and sealed container is moved on to a movablereceiving table, shown at the left of the machine in Figures 1 and 2,from whichtable it'may be manually removed by an operator. Preferably,heat is applied to the upper portion or foldable end of the containerboth dur-,

ing the stapling operation and during thefinal sealing operation, thetemperature of. the parafiin coatingnat the top ofthe container beingraised to such a point that the 'paramn becomes semi-fluid I)! plastiia'This facilitates the fabrication of a container having a continuous leakproof seal at its upper end thus ensuring against the leakage of liquidfrom thecontainerp The means for applying the heat to the container topsis fully disclosed in the two copending applications previously referredto, covering the stapling apparatus and the sealing apparatusrespectively. It will be noted that in Figure 1 the flexible element llof the conveyor is shown intwo positions, in full anddotted lines, theconveyor as an entirety being vertically adjustable. The containers C,shown in full lines, may be for instance half pint containers and hence,relatively short. By means of dotted lines C, a series of longercontainers is indicated and to adjust the machine to enable it to handlecontainers of this size, the entire conveyor mechanism, including theflexible element I0, is lowered to the dotted line position shown. Thepartial folding mech-,

anism ll, filler l2, closing mechanism ll,

stapling mechanism I4 and sealing mechanism I! are all preferably fixedupon the frame which supports the conveyor and the adjustment of themachine to accommodate containers of different sizes is brought about byraising and lowering the supporting conveyor. Nevertheless, the in-,vention contemplates, in its broadest aspects, a

stationary conveyor support and means for si-- multaneously raising orlowering the several instrumentalities for charging, closing and sealingthe containers.

The details of the conveyor may be most clearly observed in Figures 3,4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. It comprises essentially the flexible element l0,previously referred to, which may be an endless chain and certainstationary parts, and chain operating means, to be later described. Thechain i0 is so disposed and supported as to have a horizontallyextending upper reach, a generally parallel lower reach and curved endportions where the chain passes around supporting sprockets, the lefthand or driving sprocket being indicated at 20 and the right hand oridler sprocket being indicated at 2|. Both sprockets may be driven ifdesired. The cross shaft 22 upon which the right hand sprocket 2| ismounted has its ends rotatabiy mounted in bearings 23 formedintegrally-with a vertically adjustable conveyor prof recesses 21'formed in the mutually facing sides of a the upper rails 21 and therollers, 29 of the lower reach of the chain rolling upon the uppersurface of the lower rails 28. By means of the two end sprockets and thesupporting rails just'described,

. the conveyor chain is supported at all points and in such manner thatmovements of the chain in the direction of .its length are opposed onlyby slight frictional forces. The chain supporting rails 2I-are providedwith upwardly extending portions 21*, terminating in relatively narrowhorizontally disposed upper edge surfaces, as may be seen inFigui-e 8.These surfaces underlie the bottoms of the containers 0 which are beingtransmitted by the con-v'eyor, and comprise sta-- tionary supportingsurfaces over which the containe'rs slide as they move from one end ofthe machine to the other.

As shown in a number of figures of the drawings the conveyor chaincomprises a continuous series of pivotally connected links. Certain ofthese links, spaced apart at equal intervals, are

links of special construction, one of these links being clearlyillustrated in Figures 12 and 13.

This link comprises spaced parallel plates 22 having aligned aperturesto receive pins 33 which carry upon their outer ends the rollers. 29 andof a container positioned between them, centrally.

of such walls and just above the level of the bottom thereof. Themembers 34 are so positioned that the distance between them isslightlyless'than the distance between the'outer surfaces of the walls of thecontainer which they engage, thus. causing the container to be tightlygripped therebetween, the engaged. container -walis being slightlydisked or flexed inwardly. by the pressures applied by; the grippingmembers.- As each such link is supported upon four rollers widely spacedapart all possibility of rocking or tilting movement is eliminated, thecontainers carried between the links being therefore maintained incorrect upright positions as they mevealong the conveyor;

As has been before pointed out, the containers are received singly butin rather rapid-succession 'froma mechanism (not illustrated},positioned to the right of the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2. yTheyare brought forward'horizontally but at a higherJevel than the upperreach of conveyor'chain III by any suitabletype of. container advancingmechanism. In Figures 3- and 4 portion of this container advancingmecha-' nism is illustrated and is seen to comprise paring lugs 31adapted to engage the rear corners of a container 0 andto move the sameforwardly, the container bottom resting upon a trackway, portion ofwhich is indicated at 28. 'T'he advancing movement of .a container Cfrom the right (Figure 3) is continued under the influence 'of the lugs31 until the rear bottom corner of the container reaches and passes overthe forward edge 38' of the bottom supporting plate 88, whereupon thecontainer is free to fall vertically downwardly toward the conveyorchain ID. The instant of fall is so regulated, by driving conveyorchains Ill and 36 in synchronisnn that a container thus forced over theedge of supporting plate 3! and dropped downwardly will be depositedbetween two of .the container gripping members 34, as most clearly shownin Figure 4, the bottom striking the upper surface of the conveyor'chainsupporting rails 2'| and coming tempoi-arily to rest in this position.

The gripping members are widely spaced apart reason of the fact that thesprocket 2| is so positioned with respect toplate 38 that the chainfollowing gripping member 34 into engagement with the container wall andeffecting the gripping engagement heretofore described. As will be seenfrom an inspection of Figure 4, the upper surfaces of the end portionsof rails 21 upon which the falling container comes to"rest.are somewhatlower than are the upper edge surfaces of these rails, at a-slightdistance forward of this point container after falling.

and these upper edge surfaces have relatively short inclined portions;ntermediate the lower and upper portions thereo I moved forwardlytherefore it is first tilted rearwardly as indicated at C in Figure 4and is then erected as indicated in C the container during thisoperation being tightly held by the gripping members 34. although not soclosely gripped by As the container is these members that it may not bemoved slightly upwardly between the members without injury to thecontainer.- It is the function of the means just described to insurethat the container bottoms contact with the supporting rails, even when,as may sometimes occur, the gripping mem-'-' bersengage :and grip acontainer too closely to the bottom thereof due to rebounding of the Toensure that each container delivered over the edge 38' of the supportingplate 38 falls vertically downwardly instead of tilting forwardly, 1guide means isprovided, this guide means comprising essentially twospaced parallel and verticaliy extendingguide elements 42 which lie i m"mediately'in front of the forward vertical corners of the fallingcontainer and therefore limit its tilting movement. Naturally theseguide members 42 must be withdrawn from the path of the container, afterit has fallen onto supporting rails 21, in order not to prevent forwardmovement of the container. to position C thence to allel conveyor chains36 having laterally extend- I hingedly supported so container.

hinge members 43 which cooperate with hinge link upon which the reargripping member is mounted is still passing over a'eurved surface. towhich it is radially disposed and hence-the gripping member carriedthereby is spaced more supporting rails 21, which widely than normallyfrom the immediatelypreceding gripping member. During the-next opei"- C,etc. For that reason guide members 42'are that they may be swunglaterally and out of-the path of the container which has just fallen tothe lower conveyor during the time that. this container and the loadingspace cleared for the following Thus, members 42 are provided withmembers 44 upon supporting frame members 45, which members are in turnmounted upon braces 45, in plvotally mounting the guide members 42 forswinging movements about the ver-- tical axes of these members.

is being advanced Each corner guide 42 is provided with mechanism forswinging position, which mechanism will now be described. Thus securedto each such member is a lug 48 and.

veyor frame. To the horizontally? extending armsof bell cranks ,48 arepivotally connected vertically extending racks 5i suitably guided inthe-frame and the bottoms of these racks are in turn pivthe same to andfrom guiding these lugs areconnected'respectively by adJustotallyconnected at ii to the horizontally extending arms of bell crank levers52, which are mount-- ed respectively upon a common rockshaft, indicatedat 53 and which is rockably supported upon arm of the bell crank 52carries a roller 54 which the lies in the plane of a cam member 55 fixedupon the sprocket wheel carrying shaft 2| .Cam 55 has four cam teeth55", spaced 90 apart,which teeth are adapted to; successively engage camroller 54 as the cam disk rotates in the direction the conveyor frame.-A downwardly extending of the arrow shown in Figure 5'. A The springs 56shown in Figure 6 have'their upperends connected to braces 45' and theirlower ends connected to the outerends of horizontal arms of bell cranks58. These springs are normally in tension and tend to rock bell cranklevers 48 in 5 such directions respectively as to cause comerafter thecontainer has fallen and has come to rest upon rails 21, the roller 54clears cam 55 and the springs 56 become active to swing the guides 42clear of the container, this swinging movement of the guides occurringsimultaneously with the starting of the chain.

For the purpose of accurately centering the container laterally of theconveyor immediately after it has fallen and is resting upon rails 21,twocentering arms 68' are provided, these arms being pivotally mounteduponaxes 6| positioned laterally of the conveyor and in the transverseplane of the vertically extending parallel rack 3 members 58.. The outerends of these rocking arms "are formed as segments, the teeth of whichsegments mesh respectively with teeth formed upon the rack members 58.Normally the centering fingers 68 occupy the positions in which they areshown in full lines in Figure 7 but, simultaneously with the movementsof the guides 42 to guiding positions respectively, the centeringfingers ill are moved outwardly. Thus the centering'flngers movesimultaneously with guides 42 and the inner ends of these fingers engagethe sides of a container and move it to an 0 exactly central positionwith respect to the conv'eyor and the gripping members as the guides 42swing outwardly.

The conveyor chain is intermittently operated by means hereinafter to bedescribed and each container placed upon its right hand end is, afterbeing individually presented to the filling, top folding, closing andsealing mechanisms in the manner hereinafter indicated, eventuallybrought .to the left hand end of the conveyongwhere it is 0 delivered tothe receiving table indicated at 85. This receiving table comprises acircular disk mounted to rotate aboutv a vertical axis positioned in thevertical plane of the conveyor chlain ii, the bevelled outer edge 65' ofthe disk 0 erlyingthe ends 68 of the conveyor chain supporting rails-21and the upper surfaces of the table and rails lying in the samehorizontal plane.

As the links'which carrythe gripping members approach table 88 they passfrom the support of the supporting rails 21. on to the sprocket 28 andhence the gripping members 84'- successively separate as they reach thispoint; as indicated in Figure 10. The containers are therefore suc-'cessively released from gripping engagement by these members and aremoved, one after the other, onto the, upper surface of the receivingtable 88, being laterally guided by the vertically disposed guide plates61. -By-means hereinafter o to be described, the receiving table 45 isrotated in the direction of the arrowshown in Figure 9 and thecontainers are carried in this direction until removed by an operator,as indicated in Figure 2. A guard 88 extending for asubstantial i.distance around the periphery of the table and tending threaded shafts15" two of which have '12 mounted upon the outer end of a bracket 13which forms portion of the conveyor frame upon which sprocket 28 .isrotatably mounted. The

guard 88' is supported upon an extension 14 of bracket 13. The conveyorframes 24 and 26, together with the horizontally extending conveyorchainsupporting rails comprised together an elongatedverticallyadjustable frame, being supported from the main frame, whichis generally indicated at F, by means which permits 15 the verticalmovement ofthe conveyor frame for the purpose heretofore specified. Thisadjusting means comprises essentially four vertically exthreadedengagement with frame 24, and two of which have threaded engagement withframe 26, the lower ends of all of these vertical threaded .shafts I5being supported by thrust bearings 18 ,as it is these shafts which carrythe weight of the entire conveyor mechanism, including the re- 25ceiving table. Fixed upon the lower end of each shaft 18 is a spiralgear 11, these gears 11 meshing with mating spiral gears 18 fixed oncross shaft 88 rotatably supported in the main frame. Shaft 88 rotatablycarries at one end a sprocket 8| which is connected by means of a chain82 with a sprocket 83 adapted to be operated by means of a hand lever84. By rotating the hand lever gears 11 may be rotated and shafts 15likewise rotated, thus eflfecting the desired vertical adjustment of theentire conveyor mechanism with the end in view of adjusting the machinefor the filling, closing and sealing of containers of diflerent.heightsand capacities. The motion of the cross shaft 88 which is immediatelyconnected to the hand lever by means of chain 82 is communicated to thecorresponding shaft at the opposite end of the conveying mechanism bymeans of longitudinally extending shaft 83 and suitable spiral gears.

Notwithstanding that the conveyor, including the receiving table isvertically adjustable in the manner specified, it is at alltimesconnected to a common driving mechanism located upon the main frame Fand the various operating parts of the machine so far described are alloperated in synchronism. The source from which power is taken to.operate the conveyor, the receiving table, the guiding mechanism,including vertical guides 42, and also the conveyor chain 36, is a driveshaft 86 horizontally disposed and extending longitudinally of themachine, this shaft being driven by any suitable kind of motor, in thiscase an electric motor which is not illustrated.

,- The shaft is fixed in bearings rigidly mounted upon the main frame F,as may be perceived from Fi ure 8. F.

The gearing for transmitting motion from shaft 86 to the drivingsprocket 20 of the con- 65 veyor includes a cam 8'! having a camway 88into gagement with a four tooth ratchet 8!. As cam 7 of the-conveyorchain.

by means of the mechanism just described, the conveyor chain will be theouter ends of which fl'l'rotates, therefore,- the ratchet 95 is given anintermittent step by step advancing-movement in a counter-clockwisedirection (Figure 9). Ratchet 95 is fixed on shaft 93 and hence thisshaft is given a similar movement. Splined on shaft 93 and supported soas to be vertically movable with conveyor frame member 26 is a mitregear 96 the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of niitre gears! fixedupon the end of the shaft, indicated at 98 in dotted lines (FigureS),which carries the driving sprocket 20 It is clear therefore that,

7 given an intermittent step by step motion, the power being derivedfrom theconstantly rotating shaft-86, and that the driving connectionwill be maintained at all times despite vertical adjustment of theconveyor, the gear 88 sliding freely on shaft 93 although splinedthereto. It may be said here that the frame 26 is provided withlaterally projecting portions 28' extend into suitable guide slotsformed in brackets 98 firmly connected to the side members of the frameF. Similar means for vertically guiding the conveyor in its movements.relatively to the mainframe are utilized 1 atwthe opposite end of theconveyor frame so that horizontal movement vof the conveyor frame neaththe cum 81 in turn connected for universal ensasement with sleeve 1|.crank I" is oscillated mechanism, end from bell crank-Ill.

platform supporting sleeve H.

* shine with a relatively to the main frame does not occur at any time.I

Power for the rotation of the receiving table BI is also taken from themain drive shaft 88. Thus, freely mounted upon the vertical shaft 03 isa bell crank lever I00, one arm of which carries at its end a roller. NHvwhich projects within the camway formed in cam 81, the bell crankhowever being located in a-plane beso as not to interfere with the chaindriving mechanism lying, above. the cam. The rollers IN and 89 are thuspositioned within the same camway in cam 81 but at points 180 apartIttherefore results that when the conveyor chain I0 is driven the table65 remains stationary, and when the table rotates the chain isstationary. The opposite end 0 bell crank "I0 is connected by means of auni ersal joint I02 to alink I03 which link has its opposite endniovement to the outer end of an arm llll int gral with a sleeve orghubmember IE5 which enc cles the rotatable Arm I04 carries a pawl J08normally spring pressed in such manner that its free end is in with aratchet III! which is integral .As-the cam 81 rotates the bell and itsoscillatory'movements are communicated by means of a link I03 to arm Iand hence the circular receiving platform I will be given a step by stepangular movement through-the intermediary pawl and ratchet mechanismjust described. If the conveyor including the receiving table, is lowtheposition in which it is shown in Figure. 10 for instance. the drivingconnection with shaft ,0 will not" be broken but the-link ill will swingdownwardly toward the horizon tal, about-its point. of pivotalconnection with- For the purpose of supporting the container tops astheyare moved forwardly along'the mastep motion of the conveyor step bya chin H0 is provided, this chain carrying a plurality of equidistantlyspaced laterally extends in: container supporting brackets ill. Each ofbrackets engages the rear side wall of a posed conveyor positionedvertically adjustable relatively ,thereto, fixed containers thereon,

below the same, toward the upper end of this side wall and adjacent thecorner of the container. Chain H0 is driven in synchronism with theconveyor chain ill and each container mounted upon the conveyor is thussupported at its rear corner during the entire time that it is passingthrough'the machine,

The means for driving the chain H0 includes gear H2 iixd upon shaft 93,the teeth of this gear meshing with those of a pinion H3 fixed upon ashaft mounted in bearing H4, which shaft also carries the guide chaindriving sprocket H5. The chain illl also passes around idler sprocket H6and is elsewhere supported upon suitable guides. By the use of guidechain H0 rearward tilting and lateral tilting (toward the chain) of thecontainers is prevented. These brackets III also cooperate with parts ofthe container closing mechanism diagrammatically shown at l3, and fullydisclosed in my copending application Serial No. 748,566, filed October16, 1934, in squaring or properly orienting the containers as they reachposition to be closed, thus insuring that the container top ispositioned properly with respect to the closing members.

described the invention, what is desired to be secured by Let- Havingthus claimed as new and ters Patent is:

1. In a container bination, a plurality of devices for successivelyacting upon a container to close and seal the same, a horizontallydisposed conveyor positioned below said devices and verticallyadjustable relatively thereto, and fixed means for placing containersupon said conveyor, at one end thereof, for all adjustments of theconveyor. 1

2. In acontainer fabricating maclnne, in comfixed,horizontally spaceddevices for successively" acting upon a container to close and seal thesame, a horizontally disof the conveyor for'pla'cing for allpositions ofadiustment of the conveyor, and a movable receiving means at thedelivery end of the conveyor for receiving finished containers from theconveyor,

means, at one end said receiving means being vertically adjustable withthe conveyor.

fixed, horizontally spaced fabricating machine, in com- 'bination, aplurality of 40 below said devices and a. The combination with aplurality of devices for acting upon the upper ends of paper containersto fill, close and seal the same, of means for moving a container from,device to device to be acted upon by said devices successively,said-means vices to present containers of different heights accuratelythereto, and fixed mechanism at one end of said means for successivelydelivering conthe upper ends of tightly embracing the 0011-" tainerandbeing adjustable relatively to said dewith a plurality of devices to an,collapse and seal- 5' collapsible end of a.

differing heights, and fixed at one end of said means for succes'-sively delivering containers to said means for all a positions ofadjustment thereof. t

5. In a container fabricating machine. in com- 275 bination, ahorizontally movable conveyor element having a plurality of containerreceiving and holding devices thereon, and mechanism for placingcontainers in said devices as they successively reach a predeterminedposition, said mechanism including vertically extending relativelymovable members comprising a guide'for containers moving downwardlytoward the conveyor, and means for displacing said members afterplacement of a container in one oi said devices to permit horizontalmovement of the container with the conveyor.

6. In a container fabricating machine, in combination, a horizontallymovable conveyor having a plurality oi container retaining devicesconnected thereto and movable therewith, means for successively guidingcontainers moving downwardly into retaining devices successively movedinto container receiving position by the conveyor, and means forlaterally centering each successive container after it has been receivedby a retaining device.

7. In a container fabricating machine, in combination, a horizontallymovable conveyor having a plurality of container retaining devicesconnected thereto and movable therewith, means for successively guidingcontainers, moving downwardly into retaining devices successively movedinto container receiving position by the conveyor, and spaced,simultaneously operable members for simultaneously engaging oppositesides of a container received by laterally centering the same.

8. In a container fabricating machine, in combination, a conveyorcomprising a flexible element and a series of pairs of containergripping members secured thereto, the members or. each pair beingseparatelyattached to said element, means constraining the element tolongitudinal movement, flrst along a curved path and then along astraight path whereby the'members of each successive pair are caused toapproach each other and to move into container grirming relationship atapredetermined point, means for positioning a container between eachsuccessive pair of gripping members at a point anterior to saidcontainer gripping point, and means for laterally centering eachcontainer so positioned prior to the movement of said members intocontainer gripping relationship.

7 9. In a container fabricating machine, in combination, a conveyorcomprising a flexible element and a series oi pairs of containergripping members secured thereto, the members of each pair beingseparately attached to said element, means constraining the element tolongitudinal movement, first .along a curvedipath and then along astraight path'whereby the members oi each successive pair are caused toapproach each other and to move into container gripping relationship ata predetermined point, means for positioning a container between eachsuccessive pair of gripping members at a point anterior to saidcontainer gripping point, and means for acting upon said containerssuccessively, after they have beengripped by said- 811W members, to.bodily move the same relativelyto the gripping members and bring theminto 10; In a container fabricating machine, in coma conveyor comprisinga flexible element andia series of pairs of container grippingmemdesired relationship to the one of said devices and' bers securedthereto, the members of each pair being separately attached to saidelement, means constraining the element to longitudinal movement, flrstalong a curved path and then along a straight path whereby the membersof each successive pair are caused to approach each other and to moveinto container gripping relationship at a predetermined point, means forpositioning a container between each successive pair of gripping membersat a point anterior to said container gripping point, and stationary container engaging means extending longitudinally of the conveyor forsuccessively engaging the bottoms oi. containers gripped between pairsof gripping members, thrusting the containers axially, and rocking thecontainers while they are engaged by said gripping members respectively,whereby the containers are accurately positioned for the performance offurther operations thereon.

11. In a container fabricating machine, in combination, a conveyorcomprising a flexible element and a series of pairs of containergripping members secured thereto, the members 01' eachpair beingseparately attached to said element, means constraining the element tolongitudinal movement, flrst along a curved path and then along astraight path whereby the members 01' each successive pair of membersare caused -to approach each other and to move into container grippingrelationship at a predetermined point, and means for guiding containersinto position to be gripped betweenpairs of said gripping members, saidmeans being displaceable after placement of a container to permitmovement of such container with the conveyor.

12. In a container fabricating machine, in combination, a conveyorcomprising a flexible, element and a series of pairs of containergripping members secured thereto, the members of each pair beingseparately attached to said ele inent,

means constraining the element to longitudinal movement,- first along acurved path and then along a straight path whereby the members of eachsuccessive pair of members are caused to approach each other and to moveinto container gripping relationship at a predetermined point, and meansfor guiding containers into position =to be gripped between pairs ofsaid gripping members, said means including two guides mount edforswinging movement into and out of container guiding position, saidguides being displaceable after placement of a container to peri'nitmovement with the container of said conveyor.

13.- ,In a container fabricating machine, mecha-- nism for successivelydelivering containers to a predetermined point of discharge, a conveyorbelow said point .of discharge for receiving containersdischarged bysaid means and transporting said containers to positions to be furtheracted upon, means supporting said conveyor ior vertical. adjustmentrelatively to said mechanism, and means ior receiving containers singlyfrom said mechanism, guidin'g each successive container along apredetermined path downwardly onto the conveyor and thereaiter releasingthe container to permit its free 'movementwith the conveyor, said meansbeing operative for allpo sitionsot adjustment oi said conveyor.

' HENRY T.

